Barak: 'Those who vandalised mosque are terrorists'

PM Netanyahu also condemns arson, graffiti at mosque in Kfar Beit Fajar saying he wants perprators brought to justice.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
ehud barak 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
ehud barak 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement Monday evening, condemning the morning's attack on a mosque in Kfar Beit Fajar in the Gush Eztion area.
The statement from the Defense Minister’s Media Adviser said that Barak hadinstructed the security forces to take all measures in order to apprehend those responsible. 
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The Defense Minister said that, "Whoever did this is a terrorist in every sense of the word, and intended to hurt the chances for peace and dialogue with the Palestinians.  This was a shameful act that besmirched the State of Israel and its values."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu added his voice to the condemnation, saying that he wanted security forces to "expose those responsible and bring them to justice as soon as possible."
Speaking in New York earlier in the day, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni expressed her dismay on hearing of the incident, saying "this is a non-Jewish act which completely contradicts the values of Judaism."
The land outside the mosquewas set alight and graffiti was sprayed on the walls early Monday morning, allegedly by settlers in the area. Security forces arrived at the scene to investigate the incident.
The graffiti, written in Hebrew, carried slogans against the Prophet Muhammad. Palestinians in the area reported that copies of the Koran had been set alight, and that a skirmish broke out between some of the residents and local settlers.
The attack carried many characteristics of previous “price tag” attacks carried out by settlers in the West Bank against local Palestinians.
Over the course of the past several months, settlers in the West Bank have randomly attacked Palestinian villagers and their property.
Settlers who resist the government’s limited attempts to implement the partial freeze of settlement expansion have adopted what they call the “price tag” policy.